Date: 10.09.2026 — 17.09.2026
Beginning: 19:00
Jan Rousek’s exhibition project examines the work of the Czechoslovak traveller, hunter, filmmaker, and trader Bedřich Machulka through a critical decolonial lens. Combining a contemporary artistic intervention with archival materials, the project raises questions about the Czechoslovak relationship to colonial heritage and the ways in which images and ideas of Africa were shaped within the domestic cultural context. Rousek’s work focuses on both cinematic and photographic representations and on the perspective of non-human actors—the animals that became part of Machulka’s hunting expeditions, trophies, and film recordings. The exhibition connects historical reflection with current debates on the decolonisation of cultural memory.
Jan Rousek is a filmmaker. He studied History at the University of South Bohemia and Documentary Filmmaking at FAMU, where he also completed his doctoral dissertation on the ideology of colonialism in Czechoslovak cinema. His long-term research and artistic practice focus on the reflection of history and colonial ideology in the Czech context. He is the author of the films Empty Places / What About You, Mireček? (2022) and How to Film in Africa (2024), which was selected for the main competition of the Marienbad Film Festival 2025 in Mariánské Lázně. His works have been presented both in galleries and in cinemas.
The title of the exhibition project paraphrases Machulka’s book In Africa on the Trails of Game.
opening: 10. 9. 2026
exhibition: 11.–17. 9. 2026
open hours: everyday 3 – 7 PM
Artist: Jan Rousek
Curator: Sára Märc
Production: Tereza Vinklárková, Nela Klajbanová
Technical support: Ondřej Konrád
Photography: Emma Sirotková
Many thanks for help and collaboration on the exhibited works: Šimon Herrmann, Martin Kohout, Klaudie Osičková, Lea Petříková, Radek Pokorný, Lukáš Sekerka, Petr Šmíd, Vojtěch Zavadil
Many thanks for lending materials for the exhibition: GAMU, Studio Alta, MeetFactory
